An Angel's Sacrifice
by CanaanAlphardForever
Summary: Crouched down in the snow in front of her burnt down school, Akiyama Mio awaits the battle she knows is to come; for she is to be taken back to the Kingdom by her father's royal guard. What she didn't expect was for Ritsu to show up and witness her, wings flexed, her secret exposed. AU Mitsu one-shot


A_uthor's Note: Okay, so here's the deal. I was never going to finish or post this. I was sitting in Afrikaans class, listening to "The Alphabet" by David Guetta when I got this sudden image of Mio, wings flexed, crouched down in the snow by a burnt down building. Then I started imagining Ritsu and I started writing this one shot. I stopped it halfway through and planned to just leave it. The reason is because I had sat through my Visual Art class, and I was thinking deeply about this story between sketches. So it suddenly struck me what a cool ass story this would be, and before I knew it I was jotting down tons of ideas. So I ended up with an entire plot. Now, I'm thinking of writing this as a full length story, so I finished this one-shot and posted it. What I need now, from the readers, is to give me your opinion. Do you like this AU K-on! fic or not? I don't want to waste my time if I end up writing the actual novel length version. If you have any advice or opinion, REVIEW ^^ It will be a Mitsu, of course and also partly MioxMugi. With lots of AU stuffs. So, please read and drop an opinion in, to let me know if people would enjoy a larger version of this or not ^^ thank you! And goodness, sorry for the long AN. I hope you enjoy this story. _

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**An Angel's Sacrifice**

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Ash fell down alongside melting snowflakes, coating the ground in a white and silver layer of dirt. The clouds, angry and grey, hung heavily over the Sakuragaoka School; or what was left of it. The building sat forlorn and black, burnt to near destruction. A figure remained crouched in front of the school, long, black hair spotted with flecks of ash curtaining her face.

"Mio!" An alarmed voice broke the fiery silence.

Mio stood and looked up with surprise. "Rit... su..." She raised a hand covered in dark smudges and reached out towards her best friend, but removed her arm at the shocked look from the frozen figure staring at her from the gate.

"Mio... You... You have..." Ritsu trailed off and stared in stunned silence. Right before her eyes Mio's black wings flexed and then folded comfortable against her back.

A gust of wind blew through the area, fluttering the tall girl's dishevelled hair about and rustling the feathers on her wings.

"Ritsu, I told you to leave, didn't I?" Unlike her usual timid self, Mio stood straighter and spoke with authority. "Why did you come here?" She dared not to step forward for fear of startling her already frightened friend.

"I-I couldn't just leave! You've been acting so weird ever since we entered our third year. What happened to you Mio? A-and what are you?!" Confused and scared, Ritsu yelled out to her friend.

"Ritsu," Mio swept a hand through her hair and expelled a long, misty breath. "You were never supposed to find out." The tall winged teenager replied coolly, her heart beating in her throat.

Ritsu ran forward and grabbed Mio by the shoulders. "Mio," she looked into glowing grey eyes. "What is going on? Why are you here at the school?"

Mio diverted her eyes from Ritsu's. "I'm the cause of the school burning down, Ritsu. I was supposed to leave today to return home and receive punishment." Mio paused. "But I found out that they are after you and challenged them."

"Punishment? Challenge? Mio, please explain what the hell is going on!" Ritsu's voice rose in confusion and she bowed her head. The brunette's chest rose and fell heavily with each laboured breath she took.

"When the school burnt down last week, it was because I was fighting one of my guards. His has a fire ability and completely let go of his control. I'm not human, Ritsu."

The brunette stared at the ground as the words sunk in. She didn't respond, which prompted Mio to explain further.

"I live in a Kingdom from another dimension, but I would always wonder what it would be like in the human world. So I was granted a life here, and I met you." The hands on Mio's shoulders tightened their grip.

"What are you?"

"Your kind call us Angels, though we have no part in religion. Where I'm from we have no religion and only rely on each other and the planet. After turning 17 I regained all of my memories, remembering my planet and what I really am."

"S-so..."

"So I have to return. The agreement was that I would be given 17 years to experience human life. My time is up, I've already spent more time than is allowed.

"But why are they attacking you?"

"Because-" Mio was interrupted mid-sentence when the lapping flame of fires caught her attention. She managed to pull Ritsu back just in time to avoid the ball of fire that had been shot at them.

"Mio! I accept your challenge as your royal guard. What are your conditions?" A man, bare chested with nothing but a pair of black shorts on, stood atop the burnt school roof. He held a flaming sword in his right hand while his left was raised, palm forward, aimed at the two girls.

Mio shielded Ritsu from the man by pulling the brunette behind her and extending her wings at either side of her body.

"My 17 years is up, but I refuse to return to the kingdom. Therefore I offer you a challenge."

"Speak, young Princess. Declare what you so desire."

"We shall fight; if you defeat me then I will return with you to the Kingdom and my Father's side."

"And if I do not win?"

"Then you erase my memories of my planet, of my family and everything related to the Kingdom. You erase this battle from my mind, as well as the truth from the human girl I shield. Then you leave and I remain here to continue my life as a human."

"Princess, why do you betray the King so?"

Mio looked away from him, no longer glaring with a strong authority and deviance. She glanced away in shame, guilt but it transformed into determination.

"I've already disgraced the Kingdom by breaking the first and most important rule placed down for any Angel that visits the human world." Mio looked to him again and saw that the man looked on with shock.

"Do you speak the truth, Princess Mio?" His scarlet red hair, spiked up on his head, swayed with the current breeze. His tanned skin looked darker than usual against the white background of snow.

"It is the truth, Azla." Mio replied with a renewed sense of power. Ritsu grabbed a hold of her shirt and gently tugged at it, but Mio silently grabbed her hand to indicate that she should remain silent.

Azla, the royal Guard Angel sent from the Kingdom to retrieve his rogue Princess, flexed his red feathered wings and flew down from the roof. He landed calmly in front of Mio and bowed his head in instinctual respect.

"I have fallen in love with a human," Mio said with a tender smile. Her eyes drained of determination and defiance for a second to fill with gentle warmth and affection.

"Then I shall duel you on this unfortunate day." Azla lifted his sword as he took lengthy steps backwards.

"Ritsu, please leave. Wait for me at our park, okay?" Mio had turned around and regarded Ritsu with a pleading look.

"Okay Mio, b-but can I just ask one thing first?"

"Y-yes." Mio's hesitance had returned. Despite her real self having been remembered, she still found herself reduced to a mumbling fool whenever Ritsu was near. The girl had an uncontrollable effect on her, and as much as she hated the teasing, she loved it just as much.

"Y-you said you fell in love with a human... Who... Who is he?" Ritsu asked uncertainly and resisted the urge to look away.

Mio simply shook her head. "It's you, baka Ritsu." Mio lifted her fist and lightly thumbed Ritsu on the head. The familiar action and words caused them both to smile at the warmth encompassing their hearts.

"You're in love with me?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes, Ritsu."

"But-" exasperated, Mio stopped the brunette's words by pulling her into a passionate kiss. Though it was their first, and they had no experience with kissing before, it was as perfect as it could have possibly been.

Mio pulled back and ran a finger along Ritsu's bottom lip. Her fierce blush and slightly trembling hand didn't miss the attentive eye of the drummer, who grinned naturally and gave Mio a teasing wink. In response Mio looked away and sighed.

All the while Azla stood patiently to the side and watched the interaction with interest.

"I'll see you in a little while Mio." Ritsu said and then turned and walked out of the school gates. Mio watched her walk until she was out of sight.

"Shall we begin then, Princess?"

Mio turned back to face Azla, and nodded. The raven haired girl flexed her cold hand and felt the familiar cold burn of ice as it crawled from her feet, up her leg, along her chest and down her arm to form a lethal sword of ice.

The path the water had taken created a make-shift armour for Mio, especially since she was fighting a fire type guard.

"Begin!" Mio shouted and then ran forward. Her wings shot out from her sides and hefted her up into the air with a powerful flap.

Azla watched as Mio shot into the air and descended upon him. He only had a second to watch and calculate before he had to raise his sword to block the blade of ice. Steam hissed and rose as their swords clashed and eyes locked.

"I will not lose." Mio said and bounced back, avoiding his ball of fire that had been directed at her stomach.

"I strangely hope you don't lose, Princess Mio." Azla said, and sprang forward once more.

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Ritsu's hand trembled insistently at her side as she forced herself to continue walking towards the park. She didn't want to leave Mio, she was the one who was supposed to protect her raven haired friend.

But she couldn't. This wasn't her place. No matter how much she wanted to laugh Mio's words off and say the girl was crazy, those wings denied that escape from her. Ritsu had seen Mio's wings with her own eyes. She couldn't deny the truth, even though she tried.

All she knew was that Mio was fighting for her, for some reason she still didn't quite understand.

_"I have fallen in love with a human."_ Mio's uncharacteristically strong voice echoed in the drummers head. She sighed.

Had Mio felt this way for most of their childhood? And how hadn't she ever figured it out?

Ritsu smiled gently to herself. Yes, she was in love too. With that tall, gorgeous, easy to scare, cry baby. She had fallen so deeply in love even before she had understood the concept of love.

The brunette just wanted Mio to come back and explain everything. To make it all make sense. To rid her of this irritational confusion and sense of worry tugging at her heart.

_Mio, I hope you win and come back. I hope you... Wait... Win? Win what? _

Ritsu stopped walking and froze, trying to remember why she was going to the park. She couldn't recall the reason. Her earlier thought had been left unfinished too, since she had suddenly forgotten what she was thinking about.

"Why am I here?" Ritsu scratched her head in confusion and tried to think of some way to remember. But nothing came to her.

All that she could remember was being told by Mio to go to the park and wait for her...

"Mio!" Ritsu shouted, not knowing why she had exclaimed her best friend's name with such worry. "Mio... Damnit, what's going on?"

The park beckoned to her, promising that by waiting there all her questions would be answered. So Ritsu shuffled over to the park and sat down on a swing.

After swaying back and forth for a moment, a memory struck the drummer.

_"You're in love with me?"_

_"Yes, Ritsu."_

_"But-" _and that's as far as the memory went.

Ritsu's face heated up.

"M-Mio confessed to me?! Is this why she wanted me to come to the park? Did I even give her an answer?" Ritsu's mind filled with more and more questions, until a tall figure approaching her broke through her turbulent thoughts.

Mio, looking confused and exhausted, walked up to her friend and sat down on the seat beside her.

Ritsu was struck with a strange sense of incompleteness. She felt that she had expected Mio to have something... Extra? She couldn't understand her reaction to her friend's arrival. Thinking about all of this had started giving her a headache, so Ritsu turned to Mio with a questioning gaze.

"Mio-chan, why did you ask me to come here?"

"I..." Mio looked at the ground and scrunched her eyebrows together. "... I honestly don't know." Her flushed skin and confused eyes led Ritsu to wonder if Mio was too embarrassed to admit the reason, or if she really didn't know.

"But you confessed to me, and," Ritsu faintly remembered the soft sensation of warm lips pressed to her own. "K-kissed me...?"

"C-c-confessed? I k-kissed you?!" Mio stuttered in embarrassment and found her cheeks burning. "H-how did you know about my feelings?" The question popped out before Mio could control it.

"Well you... You told me... And then..." Ritsu trailed off and looked away, wondering if what she felt and faintly remembered actually happened at all.

"I... I didn't confess to you, Ritsu." Mio stated and refused to meet the drummer's eyes. "B-but I do... Feel that way... For you..." The end of her sentence came out in sort of a squeak.

"Mio..." Rather than sounding mocking or amused, Ritsu's voice held a strong sense of emotion. The brunette pulled her best friend into her arms and simply held onto her. She didn't know why, but she felt like they had just overcome some feat. Like Mio had done something for her, to be with her, despite the confusing state of their memories and situation.

It didn't matter, however, because Mio relaxed against her and returned the embrace with a hesitant one of her own.

No matter the confusion, they both knew in their hearts that they had won. Won over what, they would never know. But they won nonetheless. And maybe now they could be more honest with each other too, regarding their feelings.

And maybe they could become much more than just friends.

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_So, like it, love it, not sure or hate it? Let me know. Thank you so very much for reading ^^_


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